Its just not for me. Or is it?

If you haven't heard that phrase a thousand times, you've said it to yourself or even vocalized it many times.  The saddest claim I have heard in my life is when a person proclaims that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not for them.  Contrary to their thinking however, Christ suffered for all mankind, every soul that has lived, is living, or will ever live.  Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. 

 

We may make excuses by saying that "these standards aren't for us," or "we just can't live this way or that," or that "its just too hard to be something that I'm not."  Everyone is a beloved son or daughter of God, that is our divine nature.  By cunning persuasion and temptation to weaknesses, the world pulls from our hearts the truth of who we really are, giving no place for heavenly things.  When our hearts become so set upon the world that we lose sight of who we really are, we fall into the mindset that "these things are just not for me."  I know we are children of God.  That is who we really are.  The path to following God is a path of everlasting happiness.  His love is for us.  His blessings are for those who keep His commandments, and they are given for our benefit, growth, and eternal protection.

Past Progression

Led to this wonderful place by design, I spent the past 6 months in the heart of our California Mission, beautiful Santa Rosa.  As you read from Elder Menasco and Sister Nestman, this place has truly changed our lives.  In the next few moments, I hope your heart will be touched with experiences that have strengthened my faith and helped me to have a greater desire to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is true that the people bring the change in our lives. 

Ever action has a consequence.  Every choice we make has an affect on our life and on the lives of others.  I reflect upon a family that has gently reminded me of this reality.  It was my privilege to come to know them and to share experiences with them, filling my heart with gratitude and love.  Two young men in this family I grew a particular love and respect for.  Despite their past decisions and the adversity that they have had to face, some as a result of their own bad decisions, they have shown me how to endure and be patient.  Their trials have not ceased even though they have made the decision to change their lives and seek for the better, in fact, it has increased in difficulty in many ways.  Every day they make the efforts to move their lives in a direction which pleases God.

Another young man touched my life in a way that he may not completely understand.  Brought to the knowledge of God though a dear friend of his, he was always willing to live the gospel that we taught.  It made me think back to the times that I struggled to follow the counsel Church leaders had given, how I tried to justify just small actions that may have not weighed eternal consequences.  However, I saw blessings come and saw blessings go.  Ben however, was always more than willing and happy to accept the invitation to follow the counsel the Lord gives us.  After his testing period of these changes in his life, he has come to live them.  Living the gospel is the greatest example that he has set for me and others.  It is in his smile, his family, and it is his life.

These people are just a few of the blessings that have come to my life.  It started with a call to serve in this beautiful place and ends with the hearts of these people.  They bring the spirit into my life, to bring a change and a desire to live better.  These people are what make the difference.  My heart is changed.  My perspective anew.  My life is the Lord's.  Why?  Because these are his children, I am his Son, and He is the way.  I have experienced and seen others share the same change as we have made progress to move closer to Christ.  Our past does not weigh us down, we arise each day with a bright hope.  With a willing heart, we find the blessings of heaven.  I have been touched.  Check out Elder Dane Jones post on Saturday! He will update us on the blessings he has seen here!

A Choice of Life or Death...




  I have been thinking a lot lately about the reasons why people change their lives.  What stirs within a person to drive them to change their life?  As I have come to understand more fully the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have seen that we need the Savior's help to create a lasting change in our lives.  I believe that we change because we feel something inside our hearts pressing at our souls, desiring something greater.  There is a choice that we must ultimately face: Are we willing to follow Christ for the rest of our lives, to make the changes necessary so that we may return to our Heavenly Father to live in happiness or not?  "I would that [you] should look to the Great Mediator, and [obey] his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life" (2 Nephi 2:28).

Where Can I Turn For Peace?



The Resurrection: He Lives

 Life can often be chaotic, uneasy, or even uncertain.  However hard our trials may become or unclear our path in front of us may become, I know we can always turn to the Savior for comfort, peace, and guidance.  As long as we know that Jesus Christ lives, and most importantly, that he loves us, we can always remember the promise he leaves us, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).  I echo the words of a familiar hymn, "I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives!" (I Know That My Redeemer Lives - LDS Hymn # 136).

Never Alone...

Through my life I have wondered at times if anyone knew what pain I was going through.  Of course I had freinds, like most do, who are willing and ready to come to the rescue and help us.  But what about the times when the pain we go through, our friends have not experienced?  Their words bring momentary comfort, their affection brings a small sense of security, but pain creeps back in once they have left.  

I have come to rely on, and find solace in the selfless act the Savior provided or us.  There is a pain that we cannot understand, but we can know that he did it for us, that "he may know...how to succor his people" (Alma 7:11-12).  I have felt devastating holes of disappointment and discouragement filled through the power of His atonement.  I have felt the hopeless pains and ever lonely sorrows of life experience lifted from my life and an abiding peace and heavenly assurance fill holes I thought would never heal.  One recently has said, "The Savior is not a silent observer. He Himself knows personally and infinitely the pain we face" (The Atonement Covers All Pain).  Let us always remember, especially through our pains, we are never alone, nor will we ever be.  "Come unto me...and ye shall find rest to your souls" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Our Faith Can Make Us Grow

I remember back when I was a boy, I would often go to the store with my mom and keep her company while she shopped.  I would always ask for a hundred things that we never needed, but for some reason she was always willing to let me get just a little something.  I used to love to get the magic grow animals.  These little toys just intrigued me; you just drop them in water and they would grow to be huge!  Although I lacked the patience to sit and watch them grow, I would find myself coming back to the glass to observe them and see how they grew.  I was always astonished at how long it would take for these animals to grow, but I knew that by the end they would reach their full potential. 

We, in many ways, are like these little animals.  Often times we may feel small or inadequate or as if we cannot measure up to the tasks that we sometimes face in life.  However, just like placing us these animals in water, we too must build up our faith and immerse our lives around that.  As we do so, we begin to see not only our faith, but we ourselves grow.  Our faith begins to become manifest in our daily lives (Alma 32:41).  Although we may not notice this growth over night, as we look back on our lives we will see that change has occurred, despite the slow process.  Like these animals, however hard things may get, we must not be removed from our reservoirs of faith, or we will ultimately shrink noticing our insecurities and inadequacies once again.  We must continue to grow, and we will if we but continue to immerse ourselves completely in our faith in Christ.

Stepping Stones

Lately, I have been thinking about how we overcome our struggles and change.  I have thought back on sports and how there was so much change for me, before I was really any good.  I swam for many years and enjoyed it, but it became very frustrating when I was not performing to the ability I felt I could.  As I struggled, practice after practice, trying to find out why I could not do better, I finally turned to coach, and asked him for help, because simply pushing through on my own was not doing the trick.  After having countless hours of stroke technique and changing the habitiual ways, I soon found myself slowing down and doing worse.  Discouragement set in and I thought it wasn't going to work.  But with the help of my coach, I learned that persistance in the change would bring the greatest outcome, and though it felt uncomfortable, it would not be long, until it became natural. 

This is a lot like living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We come to believe in Christ and try to change our lives to live how God wants us to.  But no matter how hard we try, we cannot make that change alone.  We cannot rely on our own strengths, or will power to get us through, we need the help of Jesus Christ.  Then, just like coach, He will shape us into who we need to be to return to Him, and achieve peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.  And though the way may be hard, it is not impossible, though the habits we must break seem too difficult, it can be done, and He will be there to help us every step of the way.  I know that change may take time, but it will become natrual and it will become who we are.

Power to Heal

Let The Children Come

Elder Bohnet and I just got done teaching one of our friends about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As we have reflected upon what that consists of; faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end, we thought of why we love talking about this so much.  We both decided it is because of Jesus Christ, and how he makes us feel!  

As I have come to know my Savior and older Brother, Jesus Christ, one thing I always marvel at is the power that he has to heal us.  I think of the mistakes that overwhelm our past, the worries that cloud our future, and the burdening guilt that once weighed down our hearts.  I think of that only for a moment.  I have come to accept, apply, and appreciate the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life.  I have felt the power he has to lift burdens and heavy hearts, diminish worries, and replace doubts with a bright hope.  He has all power to heal us physically, but there is a healing that takes a perfect love and patience, and that healing is spiritual healing.  I think of a scripture in the Book of Mormon, when the Savior appears to the people and tells them, "come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal [you]..."(3 Nephi 18:32).

I know that the Lord will heal all who come unto Him, with full purpose of heart.  I know that is because he has an unconditional and an everlasting love for us.  He can heal us. He can make us whole.

Always Remember Him

I have been thinking back on my childhood life and all of the fun that it was.  I also reflected upon the times where there was mistakes and mishaps, particularly when I have walked away scarred from injury.  I have these little reminders, one on my forehead, one on my hand, and another on my foot.  All of these scars help me to explain a story.  As I look at them, I am reminded of how they came to be there.  My mind plays back the most vivid and remarkable scenes of just how these scars came about, they have become, so to speak, my little marks of remembrance. 

As a young boy, I seemed to love to flaunt these scars and tell everyone I knew how I got them.  It made my story better when I told them how bad it hurt, or how I didn't even cry when I got stitches.  They were to me and to everyone I told, evidence that these events had actually happened. 

Those events and that thought, pull me back to the Savior.  To those whom He appeared, the prints in His hands and feet bore witness that he truly is the Son of God.  D & C 6:36-37 tell us of a promise as we remember Him.  In remembering the pains that brought our scars, let us also remember Him, who willingly accepted these scars, that mark Him our Savior and Redeemer.  Let us remember to believe in Him and to follow Him.  To his scars, it is not just a story, but it is quite literally His life and glory.  I know that He lives and loves us and we are blessed as we believe in Him, John 20:26-29.

"We are the children of God"

Worth of a Soul

Someone close to me expressed something that she fears, as she is changing her life and trying to come closer to the Savior.  As my companion and I shared with her our desire for her to come to understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ more fully, I found myself pondering upon my life and how change had brought up some of my worst fears.  As we listened closer, I have come to feel that this fear was more internal; the question of self worth. 

There is a worry that comes to us when we change our lives, when we come to wonder if we must truly move past the places where we once felt most comfortable.  Will we be good enough for the new group of people that we will associate with, or will these new set of values that we will live really make me free?  I have pondered about this for a few days and a certain hymn comes to mind, which touched my heart and awakened my spirit to a sense of healing that Christ offers to us all, as we change and become something new.

"Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish;
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.

Here bring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish.
Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal."

"Come Ye Disconsolate"

There are fears, doubts and pains that trouble our souls, but as we go though these experiences a feeling of hope and joy may flood our souls as we read the words of prophets of old, Romans 8:16-17.  We are all God's children, and he loves each of us.  Doctrine and Covenants 18:10, 13.  We are of worth to Him.